Modern Quilt Month: Improvisation! (3)

In quilting, improvisation refers to a freeform, intuitive approach to design where quilters create without strictly following traditional patterns, precise measurements, or pre-planned templates. It has its own category within modern quilt shows! We hope you enjoy these photos of improvisational quilts.

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Lifelines by Emilie Trahan (Joliette, Quebec, Canada) @mili.tra 

Winner of Judge's Choice award at the 2025 QuiltCon show, Emilie Trahan says this piece was created at a point of exhaustion, as she was working as a healthcare professional during the pandemic in 2022. "Whether you see it bursting and being torn apart, or being held and pulled together, this quilt explores how sinuous the lines of our destiny can be, and how a narrow lifeline could change everything," she says.

Lifelines was created with improvisational curve piecing. Amazingly, the quilt was made entirely of upcycled fabrics (mainly sheets and pillowcases), improvisational curve piecing, and machine quilting without a frame (domestic).   

Scattered Thoughts by Deborah Boschert (Texas) @deborahboschert 

Here is a lovely art quilt collage made by Deborah Boschert with a variety of techniques: machine applique, hand embroidery, machine quilting without a frame, printmaking, and surface design. Notice the chair, stitched in red, in the open space at the right of the quilt. Deborah says: "For me, the chair symbolizes the importance of stillness. And making space.  And the idea that clarity can come from rest."

Deborah explains the quilt title, Scattered Thoughts: "Even when I have the opportunity to sit quietly and observe everything around me, sometimes my thoughts are chaotic and interrupted. Other times they are ordered and predictable. I created this textile collage during a time when I was grasping for control and predictability. And yet I made something completely random, irregular and unexptected."   

Embers by Barbara Danzi (California) @barbdanzi

 

Embers was inspired by the warmth of a campfire and the glowing embers; the red hot hues bring the embers to life. Barbara Danzi says that Embers is a study in figure/ground composition, with the ground, or negative space forming shapes so similar to the figures. Embers was improvisational pieced  and machine quilted on a frame (longarm) with matchstick quilting.  You can see more of Barbara's fine art quilts at her website.

 Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2025 QuiltCon show in Phoenix, Arizona.